Please Do Not Let This Die

I am not naïve to the ways of the information age.

Yesterday’s news is old news. Each day brings a new onslaught of disconnected events with no rhyme or reason, soon to be forgotten once the newest and more outlandish information comes our way. There is no longer any lasting indignation over injustice that compels us into long, strenuous, costly William Wilberforce/Dietrich Bonheoffer/Martin Luther King Jr. types of fights for justice. Instead our age has trained us to wake up, log on to facebook, and choose our newest outrage for the day.

I get it. But please not this time. Please, in the name of all that is holy, do not let this story die. And yes, I’m speaking to you on social media. I have never been the yell-at-the-mainstream-media type of guy, but it is so obvious that they are not going to cover this.

The good news is that they no longer control the narrative. The age of social media has come with many problems (see above), but without a doubt, it has also handed to us unprecedented authority and influence. The powerful now fear the previously powerless, because one twitter account can change everything.

And at the beginning it seemed like that’s where this was heading. The videos were trending, the hashtags were numerous, and the scandal was loud. But now I fear it is waning. I fear this once in a lifetime story is close to being forgotten beneath the rubble of Internet outrage.

Please, don’t let it happen.

And I want to offer a specific plea to the many who are against abortion but reluctant to add your voice. I know where you are coming from. Loud angry fundamentalism is so obnoxious and ugly, this debate is replete with fundamentalists on each side, and you don’t want to be identified with it. I understand, but this is an issue that needs every voice. Awkwardness is the newest cross to bear within our culture, and I’m asking you to embrace it in the name of justice. When a baby’s face is being cut open so that his brains can be extracted, we don’t have time for trendy social relevance. Please, if only for this cause, please be awkward with us.

What can we do to stop abortion? There are many answers to that question but the most important is to not let our culture forget about abortion. That is what Planned Parenthood is counting on. What has been hidden and ignored for so long is finally before our eyes, and they are nervously waiting for this to become old and forgotten news so that they can pick up the pieces and rebuild their brand.

Please, don’t let it happen.

Do not let the horror retreat once again to the darkness; do not let injustice hide where it can once again flourish; do not let our culture once again ignore the blood that is all around us.